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<blockquote data-quote="Gentlegamer" data-source="post: 3664365" data-attributes="member: 2425">The short answer is that mental and social faculties are part and parcel of role-playing, so what is commonly called &quot;metagaming&quot;* in the context of role-playing games, is often simply &quot;gaming.&quot; Being aware of the game as game, and applying player experience (rather than attempting to limit to &quot;only what the character knows&quot;) is safely within the umbrella of activities that constitute role-playing. Again, it is important to remember that &quot;role assumption&quot; and &quot;role immersion&quot; are not the whole of or synonyms for &quot;role-playing&quot; (in this context). Physical faculties are not part and parcel of role-playing, so if they have significant importance to how your character's actions are performed, the video game falls into the &quot;action&quot; category.If right clicking the mouse button is used to initiate an attack (possibly choosing from hot-keyed commands for different attacks or a drop-down menu), that's no different than a player sitting at a table telling the DM &quot;I attack [by such-and-such attack form]&quot; This doesn't fall under the &quot;action&quot; category, and would be fine as an example of computer interface used to play an &quot;actual&quot; role-playing game combat.If, however, you must perform some kind of physical flourish with the mouse (or joystick, etc.) to get a certain attack to function (think special moves in video games like Street Fighter II), and/or must aim your attack accurately using the physical input and GUI in order to target the opponent and certain body parts, you are playing an action game, not a role-playing game.***We should be careful if we are going to introduce &quot;metagaming&quot; as a term in this discussion, because it is often thought of as a synonym for cheating in a role-playing game (because role-playing is being used as a synonym for role assumption or role immersion). In my opinion, the only &quot;metagaming&quot; that is cheating in a role-playing game is when the players peek at the DM's map, notes, etc. and use that knowledge to their advantage.**Yes, this may very well call into question to what extent LARPs are actually role-playing games. I suggest we leave that can of worms alone and stay focused on video games.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Gentlegamer, post: 3664365, member: 2425"] The short answer is that mental and social faculties are part and parcel of role-playing, so what is commonly called "metagaming"* in the context of role-playing games, is often simply "gaming." Being aware of the game as game, and applying player experience (rather than attempting to limit to "only what the character knows") is safely within the umbrella of activities that constitute role-playing. Again, it is important to remember that "role assumption" and "role immersion" are not the whole of or synonyms for "role-playing" (in this context). Physical faculties are not part and parcel of role-playing, so if they have significant importance to how your character's actions are performed, the video game falls into the "action" category. If right clicking the mouse button is used to initiate an attack (possibly choosing from hot-keyed commands for different attacks or a drop-down menu), that's no different than a player sitting at a table telling the DM "I attack [by such-and-such attack form]" This doesn't fall under the "action" category, and would be fine as an example of computer interface used to play an "actual" role-playing game combat. If, however, you must perform some kind of physical flourish with the mouse (or joystick, etc.) to get a certain attack to function (think special moves in video games like Street Fighter II), and/or must aim your attack accurately using the physical input and GUI in order to target the opponent and certain body parts, you are playing an action game, not a role-playing game.** *We should be careful if we are going to introduce "metagaming" as a term in this discussion, because it is often thought of as a synonym for cheating in a role-playing game (because role-playing is being used as a synonym for role assumption or role immersion). In my opinion, the only "metagaming" that is cheating in a role-playing game is when the players peek at the DM's map, notes, etc. and use that knowledge to their advantage. **Yes, this may very well call into question to what extent LARPs are actually role-playing games. I suggest we leave that can of worms alone and stay focused on video games. [/QUOTE]

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